New Toejam and Earl in the works

Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
Loved playing two player Panic in Funktatron with my best friend when we were children. Good memories of that. Definitely interested in this. Also to those saying this is going to be mobile I highly doubt the creator of the series would revive the franchise if he didn't seriously plan on creating a full-on sequel to the original games.

I'm betting this is a digital release on both Steam and next generation consoles.
 
P

Piston Hyundai

Member
Zubz said:
No, but I feel that getting it'd be the highlight of someone's time on GAF.
Click to expand...

In life, man. In life.

FUNK LORD is the highest title anyone could aspire to have. Fuck being knighted. Once you're a FUNK LORD, your life is just the arcade from the Atomic Dog music video.
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
Looks like the games press are discovering this thread and generating press coverage. As always NeoGAF is faster than the rest of the Internet. Can't believe the creator posted about this game back in September and only now is the announcement making headlines. Well done OP. Looks like you've genuinely helped out the developers with some press attention.

I always love it when I see "Source: NeoGAF" at the end of an article. Just proves NeoGAF is faster and better than everywhere else.
 
J

jhmtehgamr20xx

Banned
shaowebb said:
...really? No offense to those who are fans of the series, but its premise is a little dated. It was literally a product of its time that doesn't carry over well as an aesthetic. 90's hiphop rap is more than a little hard to push.

Wish the developers well with this one. Even with a noticeable name its going to be hard to push sales on this one IMO. Though that thing that came out for the XBOX can't really be taken as much of an example of extending the series. It was a horrible trick or treat game and not much else.

Good luck...I just don't see this having huge appeal and think its premise may be hard to push to this generation or even older ones.
Click to expand...
It's not like it needs to sell 10 million copies, damn. AAA games be playing these mind games on people's expectations, I tell you....

It'll have its niche, and that's all the dev needs. Budget accordingly and they'll profit. Done deal. I think they could get tongue-in-cheek with the garish late 80s/early 90s aesthetics, particularly the hiphop ones (they have to be careful there though; that was the Afrocentric-consciousness period. Don't want to come off like you're making fun of that in and of itself, just the garish way some folks represented it).

There's always a market for these kind of games, it just isn't (and doesn't need to be) tens of millions big.
 
A

akilshohen

Member
I really should be buying that collection on XBLA. Never played the first and didn't really understand the second one, played the hell out of the third one. Those level intros were funny as hell.

Kind of surprised that they never appeared in the racing games despite winning the poll (or close to it)
 
I

Impossiburu

Neo Member
Ghost_Messiah said:
Looks like the games press are discovering this thread and generating press coverage. As always NeoGAF is faster than the rest of the Internet. Can't believe the creator posted about this game back in September and only now is the announcement making headlines. Well done OP. Looks like you've genuinely helped out the developers with some press attention.

I always love it when I see "Source: NeoGAF" at the end of an article. Just proves NeoGAF is faster and better than everywhere else.
Click to expand...

I like NeoGAF. "Faster and better than everywhere else" seems odd. The press just doesn't have as many eyes and ears as there are members of NeoGAF. I'm sure if these devs sent out a press release, we'd know. Stealth Facebook page creation isn't really a good way to announce the revival of a classic.

Still, credit where it's due, NeoGAF finds a lot of shit out fist. That's super cool.
 
T

thelatestmodel

Junior, please.
The original has aged so, so well. It's still a joy to go back and play through, I think it's probably my favourite Mega Drive game.

Honestly, if I was doing a new one, I'd just stick to the same basic formula but revamp it with a shit ton of new stuff.
 
C

Camjo-Z

Member
akilshohen said:
I really should be buying that collection on XBLA. Never played the first and didn't really understand the second one, played the hell out of the third one. Those level intros were funny as hell.

Kind of surprised that they never appeared in the racing games despite winning the poll (or close to it)
Click to expand...

Apparently it was just licensing stuff that kept them from being in.

Kotaku said:
"ToeJam and Earl were characters we did want to include in Sega Superstars Tennis," according to "Steve," a representative from Sumo Digital. "Sega had looked into it, but it transpires that the rights to the characters actually belong to someone else. I know Sega tried to resolve this so we could include them – but this wasn't successful."

The same is unfortunately true for Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing "at this stage," news that may induce a serious panic on Funkotron.
Click to expand...
 
Xbudz

Xbudz

Member
UAtTnpT.gif


Groovy
 
T

TheSpaceBetween

Member
Please be good... The original and Panic on Funkatron were two of my favorite games growing up. But, if the the last one was anything to go by, perhaps this series is best to stay in the 90s...
 
L

Lijik

Member
Earl actually translates really well to the graphic style of that concept art. not digging toejam though
 
L

lazygecko

Member
If it's going back to the roots I hope the music is equally conservative stylistically. For a game centered around hip hop imagery, the music was way way closer to traditional funk than what actual hip hop sounded like at the time. It was remarkably similar to Herbie Hancock/Headhunters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcZ5NNuPq-c
 
M

MikeyB

Member
shaowebb said:
90's hiphop rap is more than a little hard to push.
.
Click to expand...

Mid-late 80s. That style of scratching, the chains, and the funk lines are totally 80s. The game came out in 1991.

That's totally an easy push. The gold chains, the kangol hats, and the house party stylings. It sounds easier than Grecian urns, but, hey, Apotheon.
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
Showing off the game in three to four weeks apparently so around the end of February:

Greetings from Funkotron! We haven’t been posting as often lately because we’ve gotten really busy with the new TJ&E game. We will be making some announcements in a probably 3 or 4 weeks, when we have something we can show, and will be able to share lots of information with you.
Click to expand...

Sounds promising. As an indie title without Sega's support I'm expecting something in the vein of TJ&E 1 and 2 on the Sega Genesis. Given their probable resources and budget a 2D action side-scroller is the most likely. Just hope it's coming to PC and consoles. If it has even a fraction of the charm of the originals then I'm definitely interested.
 
A

AF_Writer

Banned
lazygecko said:
So what's the backstory on this? Did Greg/Human Nature just buy back the rights to the IP from Sega?
Click to expand...

They've always had the rights to the ToeJam & Earl IP. SEGA owns the games and all assets in the first three games. Any new game he would potentially make could be done independently of SEGA so long as he doesn't reuse assets from the original games.

Here's an interview we conducted with Greg in late 2013 where he talks about some potential things he could do in a new ToeJam & Earl game: http://www.seganerds.com/2013/12/26/toejam-earl-4-could-see-duo-traveling-through-history.

Oh yeah, he almost put TJ&E in Doki-Doki Universe, which would have been pretty awesome. Imagine if you could have visited Funkotron! http://www.seganerds.com/2013/12/23/toejam-earl-almost-featured-in-doki-doki-universe/
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
lazygecko said:
So what's the backstory on this? Did Greg/Human Nature just buy back the rights to the IP from Sega?
Click to expand...

Sega never had the rights, they always belonged to TJ&E Inc. When that company folded, Greg held on to the rights.


Also, there were FOUR Toejam & Earl games. Everybody always forgets this:

msIy7Ox.png


Lightgun game, "Ready, Aim, Tomatoes!" Came packed in with the Menacer.
 
D

Debs

Member
Ohh great! I hope this turns as good as the original, I loved that game! My Mum is also a big fan of Toejam and Earl games, going to phone her now to let her know :D
 
L

lazygecko

Member
AF_Writer said:
They've always had the rights to the ToeJam & Earl IP. SEGA owns the games and all assets in the first three games. Any new game he would potentially make could be done independently of SEGA so long as he doesn't reuse assets from the original games.

Here's an interview we conducted with Greg in late 2013 where he talks about some potential things he could do in a new ToeJam & Earl game: http://www.seganerds.com/2013/12/26/toejam-earl-4-could-see-duo-traveling-through-history.

Oh yeah, he almost put TJ&E in Doki-Doki Universe, which would have been pretty awesome. Imagine if you could have visited Funkotron! http://www.seganerds.com/2013/12/23/toejam-earl-almost-featured-in-doki-doki-universe/
Click to expand...

“We got about three or four months into it when SEGA asked us to sort of switch gears and build a sidescroller with big characters instead of doing the isometric view like in Game 1,” he said. “At the time, they were kind of confused by it, and ToeJam & Earl 1 got off to kind of a slow start. It eventually did well, but it was more by word of mouth, kind of a groundswell sort of thing. So, in the early days, SEGA was looking at it and going, “Hmmm, this isn’t really doing that well, and we don’t really get it, so can you do this instead.'”
Click to expand...

Man, so indicative of Sega's misguided policies at the time. This was the exact same reasoning that nearly didn't get Gunstar Heroes published in the US, because the sprites weren't large enough.
 
S

sniperpon

Member
Ugh, why?

The original is one of my top ten of all games, of all time. But I thought the sequel was mediocre, and the third game an abomination.

So if this pattern holds...
 
U

UncleSporky

Member
Toejam & Earl is the original Diablo.

Randomly generated maps, randomly generated unidentified loot, it's a total roguelike but it's in real time, which puts it more in the Diablo camp.
 
Ghost_Messiah

Ghost_Messiah

Member
lazygecko said:
Man, so indicative of Sega's misguided policies at the time. This was the exact same reasoning that nearly didn't get Gunstar Heroes published in the US, because the sprites weren't large enough.
Click to expand...

I'm still mystified as to why excellent games like Monster World IV and Golden Axe III were Japan only and never released in Western territories. People wonder why the SNES caught up with the Genesis and then overtook it and Sega's publishing decisions are a large amount to do with that. Not only did they pull support for the Genesis too early but all of the late 1994 and 1995 game releases just kind of stopped. They had games. They were just only releasing them in Japan where the Genesis was effectively dead in the water so even that makes zero sense.

Monster World IV for example I only ended up playing years later because it was never released in Europe.
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
yeah, we just assumed sega had the rights forever. the fact that TJ&E wasnt on nearly every one of the many Sega classics compilations should've been a clue, though...at least they finally got it up a while back on steam

Krejlooc said:
Also, there were FOUR Toejam & Earl games. Everybody always forgets this:

msIy7Ox.png


Lightgun game, "Ready, Aim, Tomatoes!" Came packed in with the Menacer.
Click to expand...

god, this & T2 were pretty much why i had/have a menacer
 
C

Chao

Member
New Toejam & Earl game?

9771706.gif



PLEASE BE GOOD, PLEASE DON'T BE MOBILE, PLEASE KEEP THE 80s FUNK THEME AND MUSIC.

I'VE BEEN HUMMING THAT GODDAMN MUSIC EVERY DAY FOR THE LAST 25 YEARS
 
S

Shaneus

Member
IrishNinja said:
god, this & T2 were pretty much why i had/have a menacer
Click to expand...
Yeah, I remember playing that when I borrowed my friend's Menacer. Always wanted to play Bloodshot as well (I think that's what it was called? Or Bodycount?)

Anyway, I have NoiseES on my iPhone and all the music from the first two TJ&E games. Gonna rock out to them today, I think.
 
P

Poona

Member
Omg! This is awesome news!

I was sad that we'd never see them again after they didn't appear in those sega/sonic racing games.
 
MrCunningham

MrCunningham

Member
lazygecko said:
Man, so indicative of Sega's misguided policies at the time. This was the exact same reasoning that nearly didn't get Gunstar Heroes published in the US, because the sprites weren't large enough.
Click to expand...

I don't really blame Sega for that decision. In 1991 they were looking for games with mainstream appeal that would be geared more towards western audiences, and the original Toejam & Earl was anything but mainstream with its slower pace and learning curve. I'm not saying that Sega was right, TJ&E could've easily been turned into a forgettable and generic platformer, like something along the lines of Greendog. The game design for TJ&E was really out there for a console game, how many rougelikes were released on 16bit consoles back then? Let alone a co-op one? But I guess the success of Sonic 1 made them take a gamble with this one.

That's the weird thing about a lot of Sega of America produced games back then, they had a real indie/ art house vibe to them. TJ&E, Ecco the Dolphin, The Ooze, Comix Zone, the first X-Men game (it was kinda quirky), and a few others.
 
B

Blues1990

Member
Consider me excited. I love both the first & third TJ&E games (I know, not a popular opinion), so I can't wait to see how this one will perform.
 
openrob

openrob

Member
I had Toejam and earl once, played it for like 5 mins and didn't really understand it. That week my house was burgled along with all my games so I never went back to it.

I still have no idea what the game was about
 
Ixion

Ixion

Member
I played Toejam & Earl whilst high as shit the other week, and it was awesome.

I'd love a new entry that's in a similar vein to the original game, but with crisper visuals and improved gameplay.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Report: Amazon is making a new movie based on the ToeJam & Earl video game franchise.
27
2K
HAYA8U5A replied
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove! - Still in the Groove Update
Trailer
2
835
ProgenitorCastle replied
GDC's annual State of the Game Industry survey reveals 1/3 of 'triple-A developers' are working on live service games
2 3
131
5K
MagnesD3 replied
New Crazy Taxi title will be an open-world, massively multiplayer AAA game, according to Sega
News 2 3
103
7K
Clear replied
Squad 44: The Pacific Front - Announcement Trailer (Post Scriptum)
Trailer
2
623
Branded replied
Top Bottom